Feed device for folding-machines.



J. H. ADAMS & E. D. WALLAGE. FEED DEVICE EOE POLMNG MAGEINES.APPLICATION FILED MAR.19,1908. RENEWED 0GT.15, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

UNITED STATES ATEN FICE.

JOI-1N H. ADAMS AND ELMER D. WALLACE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 10 ADAMS LETTER FOLDING MACHINECOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FEED DEVICE FOR FOLDING-MACHINES.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN II. ADAMS and ELMER D. WALLACE, ofMinneapolis, Hennepin county, Minnesota, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Feed Devices for Folding-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for folding sheets of paper such asletters, circulars, etc., and the object of the invention is to providemeans whereby the sheets may be drawn through the initial foldingmechanism and speeded up higher than the feed roller without danger oftearing the sheets when the pull thereon by the folding mechanismproduces a considerable strain on the a er.

li further object is to provide for a more certain, positive feed of thesheets one at a time from the stack to the folding mechanism.

In machines of this type there has been considerable difiicultyheretofore in timing the travel of the sheets so that they will be drawndown through the rollers of the initial folding mechanism and each sheetkept out of the way of the one following. The natural way to hasten theprogress of the sheets through the folding mechanism is to increase thespeed. There has been danger in doing this, however, as the forwardportion of the sheets would be acted upon by the initial foldingmechanism before the rear portion of the sheets was released by the feedroller and consequently the sheets have been torn, or following eachother too closely, have interfered one with the other. Our inventionavoids this difficulty and permits the speeding up of the foldingmechanism even before the sheets are released or discharged by the feedroller.

The invention consists generally in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, Figure lis a side elevation of the feed mechanism of a folding machine embodyingour invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 8 is asectional view illustrating the arrangement of the feed rollers withrespect to the initial folding mechanism. Fig. 4 is a de- .tail view ofthe ratchet mechanism em- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 19, 1908, Serial No. 422,157.

Patented May 31, 1910.

Renewed October 15, 1909. Serial No. 522,806.

ployed in connection with the feed roller. Fig. 5 is a detail viewillustrating the position of the idle roller with respect to the table.

In the drawing, 2 represents a table supported on legs 3 and providedwith a carriage 4 that is hinged at 4 and is capable of adjustment backand forth on its pivot to vary the angle of inclination of the carriageaccording to the character of paper that it is desired to feed. Thecarriage is adapted to slide on a rod 4 and a spring 3 normally holdsthe carriage forward with a yielding pressure. An adjustable brace 3 isprovided by means of which the upper or hinged portion of the carriagemay be adjusted and secured at the desired angle. A roller 5 is mountedin bearings on the table and is arranged to contact with the outer sheetof the stack and feed the same when the roller is revolved. Beneath thetable and operating through an opening therein is an idle roller 6divided into corrugated sect-ions having transverse grooves betweenthem, said sec- 'tions projecting up through openings 6 in the table topand contacting with the lower end of the stack of paper. Theoreticallyeach corrugation in the idle roller 6 will receive the lower end of asheet of paper, and the pressure of the carriage spring will besufficient to hold the sheets in contact with the feed roller 5 androtate the idle roller 6 causing the slope or angle of the corrugationson said idle roller to allow the lower end of the outer contacting sheetto be fed forward and released from the stack and advanced along thetable top toward the initial folding mechanism. By providing openings inthe table top to receive the corrugated sections and having bars orseparating strips in the table top between said sections we are able toprevent the ends of the sheets from slipping down between the corrugatedroller, and the edges of the openings, and at the same time render morepositive and reliable the feeding of the sheets one at a time from thestack.

A gear 7 is mounted on an arm 7 and meshes with a gear 8 that is looselymounted on the roller 5. This gear 8 carries a series of dogs 9 that areheld by springs 10 in engagement with the teeth of a ratchet 1l that issecured on the projecting end of the shaft of the roller 5. A sprocketwheel l2 is secured to the gear 7 and is driven by a sprocket chain 13.Rollers 14 and 15 are mounted in the table top on substantially the samelevel and have their peripheries proj ecting through an opening 1G inthe top. A pressure roller 17 is carried by arms 18 pivoted on the tabletop and said roller 17 is held in yielding engagement with the rollerl15 by a spring 19.

The sheets of paper passing over the top of the finely corrugated roll 6will be fed one at a time from the stack by the roller and slidingalong` the top of the table will pass between theY rollers and 17. Ithas been difficult heretofore to time the travel of the sheets so thateach one will be drawn down between the rollers 1st and 15 before thesucceeding sheet fed forward between the rollers 15 and 17 will contactwith the descending preceding sheet. The rollers 1ft and 15 may bespeeded up to hasten the delivery, but by so doing there is danger oftearing the sheets when the pull on the roller :3 becomes too severe.Should this happen, however, with the mechanism eniployed by us, theroller 5 will slip and the dogs will slide over the teeth of the ratchetand allow the feed roller to operate without operating the gear. alldanger of tearing the sheets and their travel can be accurately timed sothat one sheet will have passed down between the rollers lll and 15,which may be given any desired speed, before the incoming horizontallymoving sheet has passed between the rollers 15 and 17 a sutcientdistance to cont-act with the preceding sheet. The knife supported onthe oscillating frame 21 is shown and described in our pendingapplication No. 403,584, filed November i5, 1907, and detaileddescription and illustration is not necessary herein, this applicationbeing confined to the mechanism for allowing slippage of the feed rollerto compensate for any increase in speed of the folding mechanism, and tothe device for making more certain t-he feeding of one sheet at a timeto the folding mechanism.

Instead of using a roller under the sta-cl; of paper we may employ abelt having a moving surface upon which the paper rests and by which thesheets are fed forward in the operation of the machine. This being anobvious modifi lation we have not thought an additional sheet of drawingto illustrate the same necessary.

lire claim as our invention:

1. In a folding machine, the combination, with a feed table, and acarriage thereon, of a feed roller between which and said carriage thesheets of paper are supported in a stack with their lower endscontacting with the top of the table, a pair of rollers arranged oneabove the other to which the paper is delivered from said feed This willprevent scales roller, a roller arranged to coperate with the lowerroller of the pair, means for directing the paper downwardly betweensaid last named roller and the lower rolle-r of the pair, and said feedroller ha-ving means whereby when the tension exerted by said pair ofrollers on the paper exceeds a predetermined degree, said feed rollerwill slip and allow the feed of the paper to be hastened, substantiallyas described.

2. The combination, with a feed table, of a carriage supported thereonand inclined to the horizontal and adapted to support a stack of paperin a substantially upright position, a feed roller arranged to engagethe stack of paper, means for yieldingly holding the carriage towardsaid roller, and a corrugated idle roller mounted in said table .betweensaid carriage and said feed roller, and arranged to receive the lowerends of the sheets of paper in said stack and the forward sheet being inadvance of the axis of said idle roller, and said idle roller beingrevolved to feed the outer sheet forward by the pressure of saidcarriage feeding means.

3. The combination, with a feed table, of a carriage movable thereon,and having an inclined portion that is hinged at itslower end on saidtable and adapted to support a stack of paper at an angle to thehorizontal, means comprising a slotted bar for adjusting said hingedsection to vary its degree of inclination, a feed roller and means forholding said carriag-e toward said feed roller with a yielding pressure.

et. rlhe combination, with a feed table, of a carriage adapted tosupport a stack of paper in a substantially upright position, a feedroller arranged to engage the sheets and feed them forward one at atime, and a roller having a roughened surface arranged below said feedroller and engaging the lower ends of the stack of sheets, the forwardsheet contacting with said roughened surface roller in front of itsaxis, means for holding said carriage toward said feed roller with ayielding pressure whereby the engagement of the forward sheet with theroughened surface roller will rotate the same to feed the sheetsforward, substantially as described.

The combination, with a feed table, of a carriage adapted to support astack of paper in a substantially upright position, and a moving surfaceprovided in said table and with which the lower end of the stack ofpaper is in contact, said surface being adapted to feed the sheetsforward in the operation of th-e machine and means for pressing saidcarriage forward. and the engagement of the forward sheet with saidmoving surface actuating the same to feed the sheets, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination, with a feed table, of

a carriage movable thereon, and adapted to support a stack of paper in asubstantially upright position, a feed roller adapted to engage thesheets and feed them forward one at a time, said table having a seriesof openings in its floor, and the roller having a roughened surfaceoperating in said openings and contacting with the lower ends of thestack of paper, the forward sheet engaging said roller in front of itsaxis and means for pressing said carriage forwardly, Whereby theengagement of the forward sheet with said roller will rotate the saineto feed the sheets.

7. The combination, with afeed table, of a carriage movable thereon, andadapted to support a stack of single sheets of paper in a substantiallyupright position, a feed roller adapted to engage the sheets and feedthem forward one at a time, and a roller having a series ofcomparatively fine longitudinal corrugations, each corrugation receivingthe lower end of a sheet and the forward sheet engaging said corrugatedroller in front of its axis, whereby the lower ends of the sheets willbe separated and the feeding of said sheets one at a time facilitated.

8. n a folding machine, the combination, with a feed table, of a feedroller, a pair of rollers arranged one above another to which the paperis delivered from said feed roller, a roller arranged to cooperate withthe lower roller of the pair, means for directing the paper downwardlybetween said last named roller and the lower roller of the pair, and aratchet mechanism provided in connection with said feed roller wherebywhen the tension exerted by said pair of rollers o-n the paper exceeds apredetermined degree said feed roller will slip and allow the feed ofthe paper to be hastened, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this 14th day ofMarch 1908.

J CHN H. ADAMS. ELMER D. VALLACE.

Vitnesses:

J. H. BALDWIN, J. A. BYiNG'roN.

